Does menstruation & contraception impact performance in elite athletes?

Victoria University (VU) PhD student Hannah Dower has teamed up with the Western Bulldogs to investigate the impact menstrual cycles and contraceptive use has on measures of performance in elite athletes.

A Bachelor’s Degree in Sports Science, Masters in Exercise Physiology and a 10-year career in strength and conditioning led Hannah to working with female athletes across VFLW, Talent Pathways (a national under 18s competition that aims to transition players to next phase of their football careers) and now within the AFLW.

Hannah is investigating if individualised approaches to training for elite sportswomen during their menstrual cycle positively affects performance.

“We already adjust training loads for so many variables - kids, work schedules, uni – this is something that we may also need to consider but we just don’t have any concrete evidence this is the best way to go about it,” she said.

During pre-season and season nine of AFLW 2024, she will collect data from players across different phases of their menstrual cycles in training and matchday performance. This will detail strength and power outcomes in addition to how they feel their concentration or motivation is at varying points of their cycle.

She is also considering the entire menstrual cycle experience and including those athletes that use hormonal contraception, or those that don’t necessarily have a regular menstrual cycle.

“Many athletes that compete at the highest level don’t fit a standard 28-day cycle model, hence why research on this population group is limited. But, that doesn’t mean that we shouldn't do it,” Hannah explained.

Another part of the project is to have an athlete-led conversation, talking to them about what we found with their objective and subjective performance outcomes and asking them what they want to do about it.

Then, Hannah hopes to create individualised plans based on the evidence she’s gathered.

“Some players may not require them, but others may benefit from either reduced training at a particular time, or reduced match time. The aim is to have an individualised tracking plan that is hopefully both feasible and effective," she said.

While there are small bodies of evidence around strength, power and aerobic performance changes during menstrual cycles, no definitive conclusions have been reached. 

The actual intervention side of what I want to achieve, changes to training load for example, is not novel or complex, but I do believe it would make a significant difference to female elite athletes.